User talk:Neo Bahamut
First of all, let me thank you for your enthusiasm with our site and your desire to help clarify certain pages. I took notice of your discussion regarding the souls and found it rather interesting despite my lack of participation. The way I've understood the manga's explanations and implications regarding the subject is that souls forced to inhabit foreign objects/bodies and bodies paired with foreign souls are not only mutually drawn to their original parts but also made inherently unstable. A body with a foreign soul rots at an accelerated rate and a human soul locked to a foreign object is in constant, yet unpredictable danger of rejecting/being rejected by that object - likely returning to its original body. However, I felt your terminology was a bit off in that souls don't simply disintegrate if they cannot return to their bodies, but rather, are forced to pass out of the mortal plane. The concept of a soul not existing in the mortal plane without its body was meant to explain both that the boys could never have brought their mother back whatever methods they used (a soul that has passed out of the mortal plane cannot be summoned back) and to set the stage for the return of Al's body. As for souls in a Philosopher's Stone, whether they retain their individuality or convert to a mass of energy, are trapped. Converted to stone form, they can neither return to their bodies or pass out of the mortal world. Honestly, I personally fear that the souls are destroyed when their energy is used up, but that's just a theory. Of course, that's not really the issue at hand. As much as I like your theory regarding the Slicer Brothers' bodies inhabiting those cages, there isn't any evidence to suggest that's the case. It's quite likely, but without evidence, we can't say for sure. The way the trivia point reads before your edit suggests that the connection between the soul and the body proves that the Slicer Brothers' bodies must still exist somewhere. Your edits suggest that the existence of other cages in the Homunculi's facility proves that the Slicer Brothers are being kept there. The Slicers were kept and altered by scientists working under the Homunculi, as was Barry, and the fact that Barry's body was kept in a cage suggests that the Slicer's bodies were also being preserved somewhere - at least up until their disposal by Lust and Envy. However, it's just as possible that they were being kept at a different location or in a different state. The existence of cages offers new possibilities, but cannot prove anything by itself. And without proof or at least a much stronger implication, we can't really let statements like that stay on pages. The unedited trivia note holds more weight and is more accurate, though an addendum regarding the cages might fly. It might be best if the topic of the alternate cages be placed on another article entirely. CorbeauKarasu (talk) 21:59, September 24, 2012 (UTC) :Honestly, I know that the cage thing was speculative, but it seemed less speculative to me than the statement that a bound soul needs an existing body in order to keep, well, existing. It certainly holds more weight if the very laws of the universe dictate that the Slicer Brothers' meatsacks must be alive...but I don't think that's true. It's impossible to say what would have happened had Barry killed his own body, because it never happened. Personally, I think that his soul would have continued existing for months or even years, before finally being rejected. That prediction could be wrong, though. I just don't know. That's why it's not an established rule. If nothing else, I do think that the statement needs to be clarified to note that it is referring to armor bonding, & not all forms of soul extraction.Neo Bahamut (talk) 22:16, September 24, 2012 (UTC)